Accordian-plaited, dual-message sign



1967 A. F. SCHOENUNG ACCORDIAN-PLAITED, DUAL'MESSAGE SIGN Fild Jan. 18, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 1967 A. F. SCHOENUNG ACCORDIAN-PLAITED, DUAL-MESSAGE SIGN 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 18, 1965 fivmwraz 41. 0/5 E5CHOENUN6 5/ Arm m? United States Patent a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 426,251 Claims. (CI. 4078) The present invention relates to a dual message sign which is useful as an advertising medium. Such a sign contains two messages which appear intermittently on the face of the sign, in order to attract attention, and, also, to double the area available for transmitting the advertising messages.

Although changeable message display signs have been available previously, the present invention provides an improvement over those prior devices in that it can be lighted from the rear and be observed from the front without obstruction to the message being exhibited from the message which is not being shown at the time. This is accomplished by use of an accordian plaited surface having the parts of a first complete message contained on the alternate flutes formed between the successive ridges of the surface and parts of a second message contained on the flutes which are intermediate to the flutes containing the first message, so that the flutes containing the second message can be folded so as not to obstruct the light from the rear of the sign while the flutes containing the first message are being exhibited as the face of the sign. The invention provides means for simultaneously moving each of the successive ridges in opposite directions until adjacent ridges contact each other in order to exhibit the first message as the face of the display sign, and then for reversing that movement until adjacent ridges again contact each other in order to exhibit the second message as the face of the display sign, intermittently. The sign is contained within the window of a light-box which contains a source of illumination which is suflicient to provide light from the rear to the face of the sign.

An advantage of the present invention is that it permits the use of a single display sheet which can be folded to form the surface of the sign, and the sheet can be removed easily and replaced by another display sheet which contains two other messages which are to be exhibited as the face of the sign. The single sheet can be silk screened or printed in one piece to contain the parts of two separate messages on the parts which will be the alternate flutes of the sheet after it has been accordian plaited, and that silk screening and printing can be done in one operation, thus providing a savings in both labor and materials.

The present invention, and the various objectives and advantages obtained thereby, will be apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment which is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several views, and in which drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a sign of the present invention after the front wall has been removed, in order to show the interior working parts;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the pivotable brackets after it has been removed from the sign;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the sign shown in FIGURE 1 after the top panel has been broken away and with some of the parts shown in dotted lines, for reasons of clarity;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the display sheet removed from the sign to illustrate the folding of the accordian plaited surface;

Patented Feb. 28, 1967 FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic top plan view illustrating the position of the accordian plaited surface when the first message is being exhibited;

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic top plan view illustrating the position of the accordian plaited surface when it has been moved mid-way between the exhibiting of the first message and the second message; and

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic top plan view illustrating the position of the accordian plaited surface when the second message is being exhibited as the face of the display sign.

As is illustrated in the FIGURES 1 and 2, the sign of this invention is preferably enclosed within a light-box 10 which is made up of a bottom wall 11, a top wall 12, end walls 13 and 14, back wall 15 and a front wall 16. Support legs 17 and 18 are fastened to the exterior surface of the bottom wall 11 and serve to support the light-box 10 on top of any other surface. The front wall 16 is provided with a centrally positioned large window 19 through which the face 20 of the sign is exhibited.

Inside the light-box 10, an upper support beam 21 is fastened to the top wall 12 by means of bolts 22 at each end thereof, and a lower support beam 23 is attached to bottom wall 11 by means of bolts 24 through each end thereof. A plurality of brackets 25 are pivotally attached at spaced intervals to the lower surface of the upper support beam 21 and to the upper surface of the lower support beam 23 by means of stub axles 26. As shown in FIGURE 3, the brackets 25 are formed to include a V- shaped surface 27, a sprocket 28, and a base plate 29.

A drive sprocket 30 is pivotally attached to the upper surface of lower support beam 23 and a driven sprocket 31 is pivotally attached to the lower surface of upper support beam 21, and the sprockets 30 and 31 are interconnected by means of an axle 32 which is attached at its opposite ends to each of said sprockets. The axle 32 is also rotatably journaled through a collar 33 which is attached to the drive sprocket 30.

A chain 34 is attached around the drive sprocket 30 and the other sprocket 28 which are attached to the brackets 25 along the lower support beam 23 and, as is best illustrated, in FIGURE 4, another chain 35 is attached around the driven sprocket 31 and the sprockets 28 which are attached to the brackets 25 on the upper support beam 21. Those chains 34 and 35 are attached so as to engage the front surface of one of sprockets 28 and the rear surface of the sprocket 28 on the next bracket 25 in the manner which is shown in FIGURE 4. The.

Drive wheel 41 is affixed to the end of the drive shaft I from a gear box 42, and gear box 42 is attached to top wall 12 of the light-box 10 by means of bolts 43. A motor 44 is attached to gear-box 42, and a drive belt 45 is connected between the drive wheel from motor 44 and a driven wheel 46 from the gear-box 42. A turnbuckle 47 is contained within the push-rod 40 in order to make the length of said rod adjustable. Thus, the operation of the motor 44 will provide rotational movement to the drive wheel 41 of the gear-box 42, causing reciprocal drive movement of the push-rod 40, and that reciprocating movement of the push-rod 40 will result in rotational and counter-rotational movement of the driven sprocket 31 and the drive sprocket 30, so the upper and lower chains 34 and 35 will be moved back and forth to carry 3 the sprockets 28 and brackets 25 in a pivotal movement on the stub axles 26.

A display sheet 50 is formed from a sheet material and accordian plaited to form acutely shaped ridges 51 and grooves 52, as are show-n best in FIGURE 7. The area of the grooves 52, between the ridges 51, comprise flutes 53 upon which the parts of the messages are placed. It has been found to be desirable to provide additional parallel fold lines 54 and 55 within the flutes 53 and about midway between each of the grooves 52 and the ridges 5.1 in order to facilitate the folding of the flutes 53. The folded display sheet 50 is attached to the V-shaped surface 27 of each of the brackets 25 so that the ridges 51 are positioned at the apex of the V-shaped surface of corresponding brackets, as is shown best in the FIGURES 1 and 7.

That portion of the display sheet 50 which is located between the brackets 25 which are attached to the upper support beam 21 and between adjacent brackets which are attached to the lower support beam 23 is either folded back or cut away so that the display sheet 50 can be attached to the brackets 25 by means of straps 56 which attach around the front of the upper and lower edges of said display sheet and are fastened to the abutment surfaces 57 which are formed at each end of the V-shaped surface 27, as is shown in FIGURE 3. The display sheet 50 is preferably formed from a translucent plastic material and the messages are formed with translucent colored ink or paste. A plurality of fluorescent lights 58 are attached in mounting brackets to the back wall 15 of the lightbox 10, and those lights and the motor 44 are connected by electrical wiring, not shown, to a source of electrical power.

The two messages which the sign Will exhibit are printed or screen processed onto the display sheet 50 before said display sheet is folded and attached to the brackets 25. That is, the messages are placed on the display sheet 50 when it is flat and unfolded, so that it can be run through a printing press or the two messages can be applied thereon by the screen printing process. The printing plates or the stencils for the silk screen are arranged so that the parts of one complete message are placed between alternate vertical lines which will become the ridges 51, and the successive parts of the other message are placed intermediate to such lines, so that, after the display sheet has been accordian plaited, it will be possible to exhibit one complete message as the face of the sign while the other message is concealed from the viewer, as is illustrated in FIGURE 5. This is accomplished in the light-box by the mechanism described above after the display sheet 50 has been attached to the brackets 25.

The operation of motor 44 results in rotational movement of the drive belt 45 and the driven wheel 46 from the gear box 42, causing drive wheel 41 to be moved in a rotational movement. One end of the push-rod 40 is carried in a rotational movement by drive wheel 41, and the other end of said rod causes the driven sprocket 31 to be rotated first partially in one direction and then counterrotated partially in the other direction, so that said sprocket can be said to be oscillated back and forth. The chain 35 is thus caused to move first in one direction and then in the other, to pivot the brackets 25 which are attached to the upper support beam 21 in one direction and then in the other. Since the driven sprocket 31 is attached by means of axle 32 to the sprocket 30, the chain 34 is moved in the same manner as the chain 35, causing the ridges 51 of the display sheet 50 to move in opposite directions until they contact each other to exhibit one message as the face of the display sign, as shown in FIG- URE 6. brackets 25 are moved in the opposite direction through the intermediate position which is shown in FIGURE 7 and to the position shown in FIGURE 8, in which the second message is being exhibited as the face of the sign. The lights 58 illuminate the rear of the d spl y she 50 The movement is then reversed so that the and the light is transmitted through the plastic sheet and the message to illuminate the face of the sign.

The operation of the motor 44 can be set to a speed at which it will change the message as often as is desired, and the mechanism operates to accomplish the change rather quickly in relationship to the length of time during which each of the messages are being exhibited. During the time at which one of the complete messages is being exhibited, the other message is folded out of the way from the transmission of light from the lights 58 to the face of the sign, so as not to interfere with the message which is being shown.

As is evident from the above description of an embodiment of my invention, variations in the operation and various modifications can be envisioned. For example, the display sheet 50 can be comprised of individual pieces rather than one continuous sheet. Also, the ridges can be attached to the sign for sliding movement toward and away from each other, in addition to the pivotal movement. Such variations, embodying some or all of the novel features herein disclosed are comprehended, and I do not intend to be limited only to the specific embodiment herein described, but, rather, I intend to be limited only by my disclosure taken as a whole, including the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A dual message sign comprising an accordian plaited surface having parts of a first complete message contained on the alternate flutes formed between the successive ridges of the surface and parts of a second complete message contained on the flutes which are intermediate to the flutes containing the first message, and means for simultaneously moving each of said successive ridges in opposite directions until adjacent ridges contact each other in order to exhibit the first message as the face of the display sign and then for reversing said movement until adjacent ridges again contact each other in order to exhibit the second message as the face of the display sign, intermittently.

2. A dual message sign comprising an accordian plaited display sheet having parts of a first complete message contained on the alternate flutes formed between the successive ridges of the sheet and parts of a second complete message contained on the flutes which are intermediate to the flutes containing the first message, and means for simultaneously moving each of said successive ridges in opposite directions until adjacent ridges contact each other in order to exhibit the first message as the face of the dis play sign and then for reversing said movement until adjacent ridges again contact each other in order to exhibit the second message as the face of the display sign, intermittently.

3. A dual message sign comprising an accordian plaited display sheet having parts of a first complete message contained on the alternate flutes formed between the successive ridges of the sheet and parts of a second complete message contained on the flutes which are intermediate to the flutes containing the first message, means for simultaneouly moving each of said successive ridges in opposite direction until adjacent ridges contact each other in order to exhibit the first message as the face of the display sign and then for reversing said movement until adjacent ridges again contact each other in order to exhibit the second message as the face of the display sign, intermittently and means for illuminating the display sheet from the rear thereof to provide light to the face of the sign.

4. A dual message sign comprising an accordian plaited display sheet having the successive ridges thereof pivotally attached to a supporting structure and parts of a first complete message contained in the alternate flutes formed between said ridges and parts of a second complete message contained on the flutes intermediate to the flutes con taining the first message, means for simultaneously pivoting each of said successive ridges in opposite directions until adjacent ridges contact each other in order to exhibit the first message as the face of the display sign and then for reversing said pivoting movement until adjacent ridges again contact each other in order to exhibit the second message as the face of the display sign, intermittently, and means for illuminating the display sheet from the rear thereof to provide light to the face of the sign.

5. A dual message sign comprising a light-box having a Window in one side thereof, an accordian plaited display sheet having the successive ridges thereof pivotally attached to said light-box and in such position as to occupy said window, said display sheet having parts of a first complete message contained on the alternate flutes formed between said ridges and parts of second complete message contained on the flutes intermediate to the flutes containing the first message, means for simultaneously pivoting each of said successive ridges in opposite directions until 183,351 5/1934 Switzerland.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. P. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DUAL MESSAGE SIGN COMPRISING AN ACCORDIAN PLAITED SURFACE HAVING PARTS OF A FIRST COMPLETE MESSAGE CONTAINED ON THE ALTERNATE FLUTES FORMED BETWEEN THE SUCCESSIVE RIDGES OF THE SURFACE AND PARTS OF A SECOND COMPLETE MESSAGE CONTAINED ON THE FLUTES WHICH ARE INTERMEDIATE TO THE FLUTES CONTAINING THE FIRST MESSAGE, AND MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVING EACH OF SAID SUCCESSIVE RIDGES IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS UNTIL ADJACENT RIDGES CONTACT EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO EXHIBIT THE FIRST MESSAGE AS THE FACE OF THE DISPLAY SIGN AND THEN FOR REVERSING SAID MOVEMENT UNTIL ADJACENT RIDGES AGAIN CONTACT EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO EXHIBIT THE SECOND MESSAGE AS THE FACE OF THE DISPLAY SIGN, INTERMITTENTLY. 